


Shy Girl

by scarletrobins



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV), tommy shelby - Fandom
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff, Innocence, Light Angst, Tommy Shelby is a little OOC, just read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27063724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletrobins/pseuds/scarletrobins
Summary: Y/n has been kept in the house on the hill her whole life. She is told of all the threats in Small Heath, the Shelby devils and everything else. One day she decides to sneak out and see everything for herself. She meets a man who helps her around town, only to find out he's the one she's been warned against.
Relationships: Tommy Shelby/Reader
Kudos: 53





	Shy Girl

The day Y/n met Tommy Shelby was the day her life changed. You can decide if it was good or bad, but she liked to think it was for the best, even if he was a gangster. 

It had been a wet morning, with roiling clouds and fat droplets of rain splattering against the ground. Y/n watched the landscape from her window, that's what she did most of the time anyway, but there was something different about watching it when it rained. The landscape looked more pure, the blades of grass shining against the murky sky in the horizon. The large oak tree far on the hill, dripping. 

Y/n wasn't allowed to leave the house. Her parents had given her the speech a hundred times. Small Heath was home to the sinners. Good respectful girls didn't venture into a smoky city built for heathens. She let out a small of course after every speech. Then came the speech about the Shelbys. The ruinous family that was the reason the whole town was full of sin. The devils and the heathonous creatures that prowled on girls at night and on innocent families by day. Oh, and never forget the king of them all, Mr. Thomas Shelby. The King of Birmingham. 

Y/n heeded her parents warnings, never left the house and stayed silent and soft in her room.

Yet recently, the comfort of the small room wasn't enough. She longed to venture down the hill, to step into the city just below and explore. Meet people and find some form of entertainment other than drawing. 

So she decided to sneak out and go to town. Her father had taken her brother to London for business and her mother had gone three towns over for the groceries (she liked to avoid Small Heath at all costs.) 

Y/n gripped the door handle and with a deep breath stepped out of the house. She smiled shyly to herself, feeling a prickle of excitement run over her skin. She was really doing this. Leaving the house, disobeying her parents. It felt too thrilling. She skipped down the road toward town, bright smile on her face as she thought about all the possible adventures. 

****

Tommy was sick of having to deal with simple shit like this in town. For once, he just wanted a day to go smoothly without people making stupid mistakes. He walked down the street to clear his head, forcing himself to remember where he came from, how little he used to be. 

Then he was bumping into someone, the girl almost falling to the ground before he grabbed her up and steadied her on the ground. 

"Are you alright?" He asked, watching as she smiled shyly at him.   
"Yes I am, thank you, and I'm sorry."

She looked at everything with wonder and curiosity. It wasn't something you saw around Small Heath, innocence. 

"Are you new in town?" He asked, watching her with calculating eyes. She turned back to him with an embarrassed flush in her cheeks.   
"Is it easy to tell?" She asked, pushing some hair behind her ear. Tommy's lip quirked and he nodded at her.   
"You don't see many young girls wandering around Small Heath with that look in their eyes." She blushed again.   
"Would it be terribly inconvenient for me to ask you to show me around?" She pressed gently, clasping her hands together in front of her.   
"Lucky for yo, today is a free day for me and I could use a walk." She smiled brightly and he felt his lip twitch even more. It was hard to hold back a smile around this girl. 

They began to walk, following the street out of the neighbourhood and beginning toward town. 

"So where do you come from then? Runaway from London?" He mused, smiling to himself when he heard her giggle.   
"No, nothing like that. I live just out of town on a hill. My parents don't let me leave," she frowned slightly. "They say that the world is too dangerous for girls like me. That this is a town _for_ sinners _led by_ sinners. I just wanted to see for myself," she told him, watching a coal cart drive by.   
"Small Heath is a city for free sinners, but at least they're free," he intoned, watching her bite her lip from the corner of his eye.   
"I just wanted to see what i was missing out on, just once," she sighed and wrung her hands in front of her. 

Tommy took her all around town, showing her the Garrison, the market, the coal reserves, anything and everything he could to keep her around him just a little longer. Eventually the afternoon came and she said she had to leave. He walked her to the bottom of the hill outside the city, where the smog didn't clog their senses and the sky shone blue. He paused at the bottom and she frowned. 

"I had a lovely time, but now I realise I don't even know your name." She looked up at him, squinting in the sunlight as his icy eyes stared back at her. He smiled slightly.   
"It's Shelby, Tommy Shelby." 

In an instant she took a step back, frown deepening as she continued to stare at him. An imperceptible sight left his lips at the movement but neither of them did anything more. 

"My parents have told me about you," she mused slightly, continuing to stare at him. "They said not to go anywhere near a Shelby, that they will be your demise." He smiled slightly, squinting his own eyes in the sunlight.   
"Will you come back?" He asked simply, planting his hands on his hips. She stood there for a few moments, mulling over her decision.   
"Meet back here on Monday? Noon?" She asked, clasping her hands in front of her.   
"I'll see you then Miss Y/n," he smirked. 

****

Noon on Monday took forever to arrive, and once it finally did, she could barely contain her excitement. 

All morning she had tapped her foot in anticipation till her mother had threatened to tie her legs together. But then her father and brother were leaving to London and her mother was heading to market for the day and finally she was alone. 

Y/n slipped into one of her prettier dresses, smoothing down the thin fabric. She wanted him to think it was pretty. 

Her boots crunched dried mud under them as she skipped down the hill, hoping he had already arrived. 

Tommy had sat down in the grassy meadow beside the path that led up to the hill as he waited for her. He got there early, not wanting to miss a second of her company. When she finally came into sight, he stubbed out his cigarette and smiled at her.   
"Pretty dress," he told her, watching the shy blush fill her cheeks as she mumbled a thank you. "I thought we could go up to that tree," he said, pointing to the large oak on the horizon. "Pol packed a picnic," he told her as they began to walk, basket in hand as a nervous sweat broke out on his palms. 

This was the most mundane thing Tommy had done in a while. A simple picnic with a beautiful girl, and it had his heart racing. He beat himself up on the inside, reminding himself of all the horrible things he had done in his life, and how none of them made him feel like a nervous schoolboy, but it didn't help. 

"This is my favourite place in the word," she sighed, leaning against the tree as a cool breeze blew by. The leaves rustled and sunlight flickered through them. 

Tommy watched her, mesmerised. She looked ethereal, sunlight shining on her face, eyes closed and skin glowing. 

"Why?" He chewed on a candy Polly had thrown in there and watched her with furrowed brows.   
"It's the only place my parents trust me to go alone," she sighed, opening her eyes and squinting at him through the sunlight. "But it's more than that. This place is beautiful. You can look out over a rolling meadow that seems almost never-ending. It's like our own slice of heaven," she smiled softly at him, fiddling with her fingers on her lap. 

Tommy had moved closer till his face was right in front of hers. The urge to kiss her was incessant and he couldn't help it. She gazed at him nervously, shallow breath fanning over his lips. He moved even closer and her lashes fluttered, body tense and hands clenched into fists at her sides. Then he did kiss her, a gentle brush of lips before he pressed deeper. His tongue delved into her mouth, tasting her. She pressed closer, clinging to his thigh as all these foreign emotions ran rampant through her. 

She pulled away first, lungs threatening to give out if she held them any longer. Tommy pressed his forehead to hers, panting with her as they both tried to catch their breaths. 

"This is my favourite place in the world," he mumbled, and he kissed her again. Then a third time. 

The again and again and again till the sun was coming down and they could barely feel their lips. 


End file.
